R.J. Simpson

Member Hay River North

Premier
Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs

R.J. Simpson was elected to the 20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, representing the constituency of Hay River North. On December 7th, 2023, Mr. Simpson was elected Premier of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Simpson was formerly acclaimed to the 19th Legislative Assembly and first elected into the 18th Assembly in 2015.

Mr. Simpson was Deputy Speaker of the 18th Assembly, Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, and the Chair of the Special Committee on Transition Matters. Mr. Simpson was also a member of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning and the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment.

Mr. Simpson is a lifelong resident of Hay River After graduating from Diamond Jenness Secondary School in 1998 Mr. Simpson went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts from MacEwan University and a law degree from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law.

Mr. Simpson has previously worked with the Government of Canada, Northern Transportation Company Ltd, Métis Nation Local 51, and Maskwa Engineering.

While at law school, Mr. Simpson was the President of the Aboriginal Law Students’ Association. He has also served on the board of the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre in Hay River and volunteered with the Canada-Ghana Education Project.

Hay River North Electoral District

Committees

R.J. Simpson
Hay River North
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Email
Phone
867-767-9141
Extension
11120
Constituency Office

62, promenade Woodland, bureau 104
Hay River Nord NT X0E 1G1
Canada

Phone
867-874-6301
Minister
Email
Email
Premier of the Northwest Territories, Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Minister of Justice, Government House Leader

Statements in Debates

Question 113-18(3): Procurement Policies
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 11)

He mentioned value for money. That is the other thing I am concerned about. The public is not aware of these purchases. We do not know what is going on, and the public often is the one pointing out if we are not getting good value for money. You know, there are a lot of people out there who pay attention to what we do. I suppose, since they are still determining the terms of reference, how is this committee going to ensure that we are getting value for money? What is the plan going forward?

Question 113-18(3): Procurement Policies
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Early in the life of this Assembly, the Department of Finance raised the solesource procurement threshold for goods and services to $10,000 and $25,000 respectively. This means that those GNWT employees with the appropriate purchasing authority can purchase an item worth less than $10,000 without going to RFP and have no reporting on that spending. I have had some constituents who support this increase, but I have also had some who are very concerned with it. This has been raised in the House numerous times by multiple MLAs. My first question is: it was my understanding...

Question 113-18(3): Procurement Policies
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 11)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I mentioned yesterday that I had over half a dozen business owners and representatives in my office discussing procurement. This was one of the major themes that we discussed, so I'm going to sit down with the Minister and bring up some of those specific examples so I can show him what I mean about value for money. I guess I would like to know: when can we expect this review to be completed and presented to the House? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 113-18(3): Procurement Policies
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 11)

I have a feeling that the procurement committee might hate me by the end of this Assembly. I am going to switch around my questions here. I am going to jump to the third one that I provided to the Minister. So, the increase has resulted in many government purchases not going to RFP, which means that, small businesses, not only do they not have a chance to bid on these, they do not even know these are going out. Purchases might be being made based on friendships, you know: the person in the government, his buddy might own a store, and that is where they get these purchases from. When you are...

Member's Statement on Government of the Northwest Territories Procurement Policies
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 11)

Mr. Speaker, our Premier has stated that the dreams of Northerners are dying. If that's the case, then to many residents, the answers this House received yesterday on questions of government procurement must have sounded like hammer strikes, each one driving yet another nail deeper into the coffin of those dreams.

Despite the fact that four Members of this House, all Members of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, raised concerns about government procurement, the Minister of Infrastructure denied the existence of any problems. This stance is based in part on his claim...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 10)

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Minister's Statement 1-18(3), North Slave Correctional Complex Inmate Concerns; Minister's Statement 19-18(3), Aurora College Foundational Review Process; and Tabled Document 63-18(3), Main Estimates 2018-2019. I would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 10)

I will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of committee? Mr. Testart.

Question 104-18(3): Procurement Policies
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 10)

My questions are focused on solutions, but it looks like I'm not going to get any. Having procurement training workshops, teaching these same tactics that are the problem, is not going to solve anything. The question was about customer service, not about more of the same. Will the Minister commit to reviewing the practices of his department regarding procurement to identify and fix the areas that are currently restricting small businesses from effectively competing on RFPs?

Question 104-18(3): Procurement Policies
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 10)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I made my statement earlier, I was a little fired up, but I'm here to represent the people, Mr. Speaker, and the people are sick and tired of being ignored. They're exasperated, and so am I. The GNWT has failed to adequately use government procurement to grow and diversify our economy, build capacity, and employ Northerners. These are all priorities for this Assembly. They can be found in the mandate that we all agreed to, even the Minister. I'm not sure if our statements today convinced the Minister that there are issues with the practices of his...

Member's Statement on Government of the Northwest Territories Procurement Policies
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 10)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the problems surrounding procurement have been raised numerous times by numerous Members of this House, yet, despite what we say, the Minister of Infrastructure insists that the GNWT has a top-notch procurement policy.

We have relayed our constituents' complaints about the policy to him on multiple occasions, but he continually insists that, aside from one or two people, no one has issues with it. The implication is that we're "fake news," Mr. Speaker, but we're not making this up. I've had half a dozen business owners and representatives in my office in Hay...